Hennepin County treatment court graduates commit to long-term recovery at first ceremony since COVID
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For the first time since before the pandemic, Hennepin County district court held a celebration for people who qualified for and chose treatment over prison time. They were a handful of the hundreds of people in what’s known as treatment courts around the state, a way to divert people with substance use disorder away from prison.
Greeted by smiling judges, probation officers and public defenders — as well as a congratulatory sheet cake — 21 graduates gathered in a jury assembly room in Minneapolis July 14 for the ceremony.
Hennepin County offers four categories of treatment court: adult drug court, DWI court, veterans treatment court and mental health court. Minnesota has 68 treatment courts in total across all 10 state judicial districts. As of June 30, 1,649 Minnesotans were actively enrolled in treatment courts.
Since 1996, state treatment courts have provided an alternative to incarceration for some who enter the criminal justice system. Participants make regular appearances in front of a judge, are supervised under a probation officer and must submit to random drug and alcohol testing.
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'I never thought I'd graduate'
Those who received their certificate Friday represented a fraction of the 345 people who completed the program over the past four years.
When she entered adult drug court in March 2020, Azaria S. was homeless and addicted to methamphetamine. MPR News agreed not to use her last name for privacy reasons. The 31-year-old said she'd been in and out of drug treatment since age 16. She didn't think treatment court would stick either, but she was willing to try if it meant avoiding prison.
“I knew sitting in a box, in a cell, was not going to help solve the root issue, which was my addiction, and deeper than that, the pain that I was masking,” she said. “I never thought I'd graduate and get sober and remain sober.”
Azaria added she had several slip-ups and having to make weekly court appearances felt “intense” and “exhausting.” But when she got pregnant with her now 5-month-old daughter, her perspective shifted.
“I knew in my heart I was completely done using,” she said.
After almost three years of constant effort to complete treatment court, Azaria said walking to the podium, her infant in her arms, to be handed her certificate brought her immense pride. She's been sober for more than a year.
An average 60 percent of those who enroll in treatment court make it to graduation. Hennepin District Judge Sarah West said holding an in-person ceremony is important so participants feel celebrated by those who supported them on their journeys to recovery.
“They really deserve a ton of credit for all the work that they do, so it's just awesome to see them being able to be celebrated in more of a public space,” she said.
Treatment court participants have better outcomes than those who don't opt into the program. State data from 2014 found four years after starting, 41 percent of those who didn't participate were convicted of a new offense compared to 28 percent of those in treatment court.
Fentanyl adds to fear
West said since the last ceremony in 2019, the landscape for recovery has changed dramatically. Opioid-involved overdose deaths alone rose 44 percent from 2020 to 2021, according to data from the Minnesota Department of Health.
The rise in fentanyl use has contributed to the increase in deaths. Fentanyl is often mixed with other drugs, from ecstasy to heroin, sometimes without the user knowing. West said this danger has raised the stakes of recovery for many of the offenders she works with.
“For some people, I have watched it be very meaningful when I tell them that ‘your test had fentanyl in it.’ And it can be very powerful for them to help not get into that situation again,” she said. “On the flip side, obviously, the prevalence and the availability of it makes it really hard for some people to fully get out of that struggle.”
West said access to clean needles and naloxone, a drug that reverses an overdose, is important to prevent deaths.
“Sometimes people think that that means that it's sort of furthering it, or encouraging the use, but, you know, drug use is not safe. And whatever we can do to try to help people is a good idea,” she said.
The marijuana connection
West acknowledged that the impacts of Minnesota’s cannabis legalization coming Aug. 1 on drug addiction statewide remain uncertain. She said she's concerned that increased marijuana use could lead to use of more life-threatening substances that are more common among treatment court participants.
Graduate Danielle Powe, 37, said marijuana served as her gateway drug. By the time she was facing 10 years in prison for methamphetamine possession, she had lost custody of her children. She has custody of her toddler.
She said she felt her prison sentence unfair, but it helped motivate her to choose rehab.
“[Treatment court] holds you accountable for everything. The other treatments I was in before would allow me to make mistakes, allow me to still use and abuse the drug,” she said.
Powe said she will begin working at a sober home in November and is currently attending Colorado Technical College. She hopes to become a drug counselor. She is also developing a better relationship with her children.
“One of my other daughters is coming – she lives in Georgia – to spend two weeks with me on Friday. So me being clean has opened up the door to be able to know my children,” Powe said.
Azaria also said that sobriety is key to being a better mother to her children. She hopes to eventually attend college and give speeches at treatment centers in the future to inspire hope in others in recovery from substance use disorder.
“When I was using, I was suicidal,” she said. “It's just crazy how I've come from then to now and how much more rewarding my life is.”
